Prentus 💼

Opening Remarks

In line with our recent branding touch-ups — check out our sleek new logo and header — our weekly newsletter will now kick-off with introductory thoughts.

This section is here to share announcements and updates— like our new NYC office space for founders and funders and our upcoming Tech Carnival event—or simply to add a little personality. Now, onto this week’s feature:
 
Bulletpitch’s publication covers the hottest early-stage startup before being picked up by larger media outlets. If that’s you, apply here.

Setting the Scene

• The higher education system is facing increasing scrutiny over whether it truly prepares students for employment.

• This is the result of:

  • Rising Underemployment: 52% of graduates are underemployed six months after graduation.

  • Escalating Costs: Student loan debt has reached $1.75T, making students question the ROI of a college degree.

  • Institutional Struggles: 78 colleges have closed in the last two years, forcing universities to prove their career outcomes.

• This week’s company is building an AI-powered career services platform for universities to help students find jobs faster while making career services more efficient.

In a Sentence

Prentus is an AI-powered career services platform that uses gamification and community engagement to help students land jobs faster.

• AI-Powered: Uses artificial intelligence to tailor applications, prep docs, automate advising, optimize resumes, and track job applications.

• Gamification: Transforms job searching into an engaging, goal-driven experience that triples student engagement.

• Community Engagement: Students gain access to advisors, peer support, and employer connections, ensuring they never job search alone.

The Basics

• Industry: Higher Education, Career Services Tech

• Headquarters: Miami, FL

• Year Founded: 2021

• Employee Count: 4

• Investors: Potencia Ventures, LearnLaunch, and various angels

• Amount Raised: Bootstrapped

• Business Model: B2B SaaS, expanding into employer-side recruitment fees

• Early Traction: Bootstrapped to $435K ARR, 20 partner schools (DeVry University, Miami Dade College), 54% shorter job searches for students, 4x YoY ARR growth, ACV increasing from $10.5K to $21.6.3K

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Weekly Feature Continued

Due Diligence

WHAT WE LIKE

• Market Opportunity: The $40B+ online recruiting market continues to carve out space for early-career hiring, with universities increasing career services budgets by 26% to improve job placement outcomes.

• Inefficiencies in Career Services: 52% of graduates are underemployed six months after graduation, yet schools still rely on a few disconnected career platforms, leading to wasted time, higher costs, and low student engagement.

• Demand for Outcome-Driven Education: As college ROI comes under scrutiny, universities must prove they can help students secure jobs, making career services more critical than ever.

POTENTIAL RISKS

• University Sales Cycles: Selling to colleges requires multi-year buy-in cycles, though Prentus is gaining traction with bootcamps and for-profit schools.

• Competitive Landscape: While Handshake’s user dissatisfaction with spam and low engagement creates an opening for Prentus, overcoming a giant with 1,800 university partnerships and 900,000 employers will be a challenge.

• Defensibility: While Prentus differentiates through engagement-driven design, an all-in-one platform, and career points tracking, its long-term advantage will depend on execution, brand loyalty, and deep integrations, as its core features could be replicated by larger players.

Founder Profile

• Rod Danan, CEO: Former career advisor with experience at Apple and American Express.

• James Gibson, CTO: Former co-founder of Quottly (acquired by Parchment.)

Comps

• Handshake: Backed by Tru Ventures, Spark Capital, Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins, and others.

• 12Twenty: Backed by Lighthouse Capital Management.

• HFC: Back by Google Ventures, Pentas Ventures, Peak 6, Luana Investments, and others.

Event Board

• Austin Tech Carnival: On March 10th, we are hosting headed back to Austin for SXSW week to host our famous Tech Carnival with Antler. Founders and our partners will be running carnival themed games or activations that incorporate their product or brand.

Cast Your Vote

Last Week Today

• The Results Are In: DTE Materials, turning biomass waste into a sand and rock replacement for concrete, was favored in last week’s poll.

• Subscriber Feedback: “The product seems like it has great potential to disrupt the industry — I’m all in for their low-cost, scalable, and sustainable solution.”